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Michelle Bacalla has always respected her father. But it wasn’t until she grew older and learned more about his background that she could truly appreciate everything he’s done for her family.

Five-Star Michelle Bacalla Has Signed With Iowa

Cris Bacalla immigrated to the United States from the Philippines, and worked to support his three children as they pursued their tennis careers.

“It was really hard for him to adjust to a new lifestyle in the U.S. and even just helping us improve in tennis, especially since we didn’t have as much as money as we do now,” Michelle Bacalla said. “He didn’t have as good of a paying job then, and we really struggled finding the best quality practice we could get on a budget. I really admire him for his hard work and pushing us to do the best we can and reach higher for our goals.”

Part of Bacalla’s drive to get a college scholarship was to pay her parents back for the investment they made in her tennis.

The five-star recruit from Skokie, Illinois achieved that dream by signing with the University of Iowa in the fall as an early piece of coach Sasha Schmid’s 2018 recruiting class.

“What I really loved about Iowa was the coach took a lot of time for me and kept in really good contact with me,” Bacalla said. “She really did offer a lot of things for me to try and look at. It was really nice because it made me really enjoy the process.”